Social Media : The Platform for Attention and Steve ‘Stevie Steve’ Stephens

Social media use to be a great way to stay in touch with old friends, find new family members, and network with others who share common interests. Although it still is a great way to accomplish these things, Social media sites have started to become a breeding ground for violence, online predator’s, online bullying, scams, deceit, and those seeking attention because they know others are watching. It is as disturbing as the Movie Untraceable, where involves a serial killer who rigs contraptions that kill his victims based on the number of hits received by a websiteKillWithMe.com that features a live streaming video of the victim. Millions of people log on, hastening the victims’ deaths.

Steve ‘Stevie Steve’ Stephens, who recently posted a video to Facebook after he murdered an elderly man, is a great example of someone who needs the approval of others and uses social media to do it. Stevie stated on Facebook live that he was having problems with his girlfriend, Joy Lane, and just woke up one Friday and couldn’t take it anymore. It is unclear to me how someone (girlfriend, mom, etc.) could push you to the point of wanting to randomly take that out on the love ones of others. This is an act of cowardly emotional behavior. He was literarily whining about how no one cares about him and how much he lost in gambling and how his girlfriend is driving him crazy. Pathetic how he does not have enough inner courage to say, forget her and find another girl who won’t drive him to the point of murdering someone’s grandfather. In my opinion, men, especially those of color, are not allowed to exhibit this kind of behavior and especially over a woman that you are tired of dealing with the obvious stupidity the two of them have in common. After the incident on facebook, Stevie has fled the state and was last seen in Philadelphia. According to NBC, “Philadelphia police put eight elementary schools and a high school on lockdown midday Monday as they looked into reports of the Cleveland Facebook shooting suspect being in the Fairmount Park area.

Police stressed in a short news release that as of 1:30 p.m. there was “no indication that that subject is in the (Belmont) Plateau area.” Police had received multiple 911 calls around 12:30 p.m. indicating that the suspect, Steve Stephens, could be in the large urban park.”

It took Wesley Scott Alexander only hours to make a make a GoFundme page and has raised over $28,000. Although I want to encourage support of the family, We must remember how people set up GoFundme pages and in the end never do anything to help the family. At the bottom of the gofundme page, Alexander states that “I am working with GoFundMe to make contact with the family as we speak. GoFundMe will ensure all funds are directly deposited into the victims’ bank account.” I don’t think that GoFundMe makes you give the money to anyone else if you start the campaign, although you are allowed start campaigns for friends and family.

Social Media is being used to get attention from others. Unfortunately, there are many people who use these platforms for attention seeking and do the vilest things to get the attention they so desperately need. Well I say it’s a pathetic and selfish act.